No. 3 seed Calhoun, which lost two regular-season matchups with Carrollton, improves to 17-8. The Warriors get one day prep time for the top-seeded Madison Trojans and the championship game at 7 p.m. Friday.

Madison, a 62-47 winner over Brussels in Wednesday’s first semifinal, is 14-10 and ranked No. 7 in the final Class 1A state poll.

“We definitely have our hands full, we knew that with this entire regional,” Graner said. “We’ve got to go back to work (Thursday) and try to devise a game plan to slow them down.”

Carrollton, the regional’s No. 2 seed, finishes at 24-6. The Hawks, who led most of the game, were up four points (48-44) on two Cody Leonard free throws with 3:32 left before Calhoun closed with a 7-2 run to win.

Hawks coach Jeff Krumwiede lamented “two hand checks at halfcourt” whistled on his team that sent Calhoun to the foul line, though Krumwieded conceded the second infraction was a foolish play by the Hawks.

Letting the Warriors shoot free throws was a losing proposition on this night. Calhoun made 15 of 16 free throws in the second half, including 13 of 14 in the fourth quarter, to finish at 25 of 29 for the game.

“We’re one of the strangest teams when it comes to free throw shooting that you’ll ever see,” Graner said. “One night we’ll be 40 percent and this is probably the second or third time we’ve been 25 of 28, at Winchester we were 27 of 28 one night. It’s fluke-ish.

“Some nights we hit them, some nights we don’t. We picked a good night to.”

Krumwiede said, “We didn’t make smart plays tonight. We just didn’t play up to our level, but give Calhoun the credit for that. They’re a very well-coached team. They took away some of the things we had success with the first two times we played.”

Calhoun stumbled from the gate, committing turnovers on six of its first seven possessions. Carrollton built an 11-point lead (18-7) before the Warriors regrouped to finish with just 13 turnovers after making nine in the first quarter.

“I wish I had some magical answer for why we do and why we don’t,” Graner said of the turnovers. “When we take care of the ball, we’re a pretty good team. When we throw it all around the gym, anybody can beat us on any given night.

“It was just a testament to the boys not putting their heads down and continuing to fight that pulled us out of it.”

Calhoun closed within 27-26 by halftime and took a 28-27 lead on Gus Baalman’s 16-foot jumper with 6:30 left in the third quarter. That lead was short-lived with Carrollton quickly going ahead and staying there for all but the final minute of the second half.

Two free throws by Fraley and a mid-range jumper from Bick tied the game at 48-48 with 2:18 left. Calhoun took the lead on Sievers’ drive to the lane and runner from 12 feet to give the Warriors a 50-48 lead with 1:00 remaning.

Sievers, a 6-foot-4 point guard, was 0-for-8 from the field before making the game’s biggest shot. He then got a steal on the other end leading to a foul on Fraley that extended the Calhoun lead to 51-48.

“As a three-year starter and my senior captain, I expect him to step up in these situations,” Graner said of Sievers. “The fact that he showed enough determination to keep going after he missed those shots was huge for us. … He stepped up and hit a very big shot for us.”

Leonard’s two free throws drew Carrollton within 51-50 with nine seconds left and the Hawks fouled Bick with seven seconds left. Bick, who was 8 of 12 from the field and 8 of 9 from the line, calmly converted both free throws.

“He is showing flashes of what we always thought he could be,” Graner said of Bick. “I honestly think sky’s the limit for him. The kids a ballplayer.”

Luke Gillingham’s contested and off-balance 3-pointer was well off target as the buzzer sounded and Carrollton’s season was over. Leonard had 19 points and Jacob Smith added 13 for the Hawks, who shot 33 percent (15 of 45) from the field. Carrollton was 17 of 27 from the foul line, including 9 of 18 in the second half.

But for a team without a senior in its starting lineup, Krumwiede sees lessons in defeat for his Hawks.

“That’s what we just told them in the locker room, don’t hang your heads because you had a good year,” Krumwiede said. “But if we don’t look for another level with some of these guys, if we don’t look to try to move it up another stair, then we’re going to have difficulty.

“This team has a lot of talent coming back, there’s no doubt about it. You’ve got to play for today, too. You can’t hope for tomorrow and think that everything’s going to be rosy just because you’re a year older. You’ve got to continue to work hard and learn from the mistakes from the year before. If these guys do that, they’ll come back and be a lot better team next year and be a force to be reckoned with.”

And Krumwiede expects more battles with Calhoun next season. “These two teams you saw tonight,” he said. “will be the two powerhouse 1A teams in our area.”